The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1883.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1284, 15 August 1883, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1883.

Pursuant to announcement a public; meeting was held in the Council Cham-; bers on Monday evening last, to consider what steps should be taken in reference to the contribution which recently appeared in the Dunedin Herald ori- the subject ofi mining * • spurt " at Reefton. There were some thirty or forty persons present, and on the motion of Mr Brennan, Mr W. Hindmarsh was voted to the chair. The chairman read the advertisement con-, vening'the meeting, and explained the* business to be dealt with He said that; a contribution appeared ... in i.the Dunedin j Herald of the 21st Juiy, purporting to give outsiders a knowledge of the way in \ which mining . *• spurts " were got up in Reefton. The article was given as from > the West Coast correspondent of the' ] >aper in question, and was of a most scurrilous character, making charges of the gravest kind against everybody connected with the mining industry here. It would be for the meeting to decide what steps should be taken against the writer. Mr Faler, correspondent of the Otago Daily limes, stated that he had written to that paper a refutation of the charges Inadeby the Herald correspondent, but the editor refused to insert .it, on the ground that it was a rule with the Otago Times not to publish- -correspondence arising out of matter appearing in other journals. Mr C Mirfin was of opinion that the article was actionable. The concluding portion of it showed clearly that the persons accused were those who took an active part in the recent agitation for a reduction in the rental of gold mining leases. He would therefore propose that a committee be appointed to take legal advice, and institute proceedings against the paper. Mr H. G. Hankin pointed out, that if the facts were as represented by the last Bpeaker, the proper persons to move in the matter were those who had taken part in the lease agitation. The meeting concurred in Mr Hankiu's view. Mr J. B. Beeche moved, that a committee be appointed as follows : — Messrs G. Wise,- C. Clifford, H. G. Hankin, W. Hindmarsh, *j.*B. King and the mover. Mr Clifford begged to be excused from being on the committee. Mr Hankin also desired to have his name withdrawn, not having been one of those who took part in the lease agitation. At the suggestion ofMrW. Faler, the name of C. Mirfin was then added to the committee, and the motion having been seconded by Mr 1 1 . Jacobsen, was carried. Mr Brennan said, as it required funds to proceed with the action, he would move that those present pledge themselves to subscribe IP/- each. At this stage of the proceedings there was a decided movement on ■

the part of the spectators towards the lj door, and the motion was accordingly not pressed. Mr J. McGaffin said he felt it only a- duty to himself and one gentleman' present, to mention a rumor which had come to his (the speaker's) knowledge. It had been hinted that Mr 0. B. King knew something about the authorship of the article complained of, and it was therefore only right that that gentleman should have a public opportunity of correcting the impression. Mr King Baid he was glad the subject had been mentioned. He had resided many years in the district, and; those who knew him best would never believe him capable of writing s,uch a tissue of falsehoods of the place and people. He assured the meeting that he had nothing to do with the contribution, either directly or indirectly, and felt as strongly in denouncing the writer as any one present. The meeting freely accepted the"' disclaimer, and applauded Mr King'b remarks. A vote of thanks to the chair : closed the proceedings. ' Ah entertainment tinder the auspices of the Reefton Branch of the Blue Ribbon .A A nny was . given in the United Methodist ; Chapel on- Monday evening last, and < : in spite ' of. the drenching rairi which fell without the slightest interrupiiohx^m§"wm"^m'w&Btim"sreum>> Amongst the items on ,^he programme was a temperance ;&r«aa. which was actedi in a very creditable ! manner. In obediende to a generally expressed wish; the enterteinmentwilij'be; repeated .again on Friday evening next; when & full attendance may be reliedupan; . ; . We were,!*! erirtfr ifi sttttinig' iti bur last issue. „tnat Mr Vf.' Perkins, 1 barrister, Greymouth, ; ; was, about to retire from practice there; Mr Perkins has joined in business' With ;' Mr W. H Jones, barrister,: \ Keefton, and with Mr A. A. S.Menteath, will :c_rry.on> the professional partnership at Reefton and Greymouth. Mr Jones will leave ,i_leef ton in the course of a fortnight.^ •.:!•■, .;. • i A branch of the Blue Ribbon Army has been established at Black's Point, and at a meeting held there last week, over thirty recruits were enlisted. The Rev. Mr Sedgwick' presided and delivered an address , The organisation is evidently, obtaining . a good hold in the district. Another branch will shortly be established at Boatman's. It will be seen by an announcement in another column that owing to Mrs Dan ks' ill-health, the management of the Empire Hotel will be carried on by Mr John Fitch, long and favorably known as host of the Umpire Hotel, Black's Point. The heavy rain pf Monday and yesterday ; caused a considerable fresh in the Inangahua river, and during the morning 1 the flood made a breach across the road below the hospital, and did some damage to fencing in the neighborhood. The residents in the vicinity attribute the inrush' of water to excavations made in the , river reserve by. j the -men engaged in forming lower Broadway, The formation material has been taken from the roadside, and a flood channel thus formed. The complaint seems to be well founded, but , the harm has now been done, and all that remains is to, repair it as quickly as.pos- . sible, as in the event of more serious injury, being done by successive floods the question of damages might arise. We hardly know what to say of the meeting held in the Council Chambers on Monday evening 1 last' re the Dunedin Herald correspondence, Those most largely concerned in the conduct of mining ' business and mining transactions „'o doubt approached the 'subject with a proper sense of ita importance, but it' was obvious that there were many ..others present, - who dropped ■ into ; the ; meeting merely out of curiosity, andwere disposed to .regard the whole ptoceedings as more of a joke than; any tjijngehie; Again there were many others, who, while entertaining the' strongest . fe'eAings of re'prbbatibn'. against ' , the „ writer of ,; .the slanderous correspondence, thought that the whole thing was being elevated into an importance it did ncfc dbserve, and be: tween these jarring . elements the proceedings were tame enough. Nor was the matter mended. in uchby the course adopted by the meeting. L The properplan, in onr opinion, ' wotald have been to, appoint a committee to communicate with the publishera of the paper, pointing out the falsity of the charges made by their correspondent, and demanding their instant retraction. This is the course followed in all such cases, except where personal malice Underlies between the slanderer and slandered. There is no evidence as yet of personal malice iv this matter, and, consequently, no reason why the rule should be departed from. Should the publishers: of the paper after the request refuse tp make the required amende, or give the name of the offending writer, it would be quite time enough then to talk of setting the law in motion The meeting, however, plunged at the subject, and, having been gravely assured by one of the speakers that the writing wa3 actionable, was possibly to some extent misled into its subsequent action. Without affecting any particular perspicacity on the point, we may be permitted to express the opiniou that, however false and unfounded the statements of the correspondent are, they are not actionable in the sense as likely to yield any redress at law, and even if they were, the propriety of such a course might be fairly questioned. To harass or punish the proprietors of a distant newspaper for publishing, possibly in good faith, the evil imaginings of, it may be, an irregular and wholly unknown scribbler, would, at tho best, afford very barren satisfaction. It is inconceivable that, any newspaper of respectable standing would libel a whole community, and we are not disposed to think that the Dunedin Herald would wittingly do so, and ln>nce our reason for dissentiug from the resolution of the

meeting. We dare say that if the mask were torn from the correspondent in question he would turn out to be someone anxious to pose in Dunedin as the embodiment of directorial; purity, but who has been expelled from the- position here for endeavoring to apply the very practices he now attributes to dthers.. j The parliamentary .correspondent of the Kumara 'limes, telegraphing the result of the division on the Gold Duty Abolition Bill, wires .:— On. the result being given, the member for Kumara was cheered by the House, it being generally known that above all other things the abolition of the cold duty : he nirat_ardent]y desires, and in the House and the lobbies no chance of making a convert has been missed. The BUI stands now referred to the Council. Itis generally thought they will refuse to pass it; still the petition forwarded by the miners will have a beneficial effect, and there is just a bare chance, of the Bill becoming law this session If not, nothing can stop it next session, for the lower House is determined that the injustice shall last no longer. In the Council this afternoon, the Gold Duty Abolition Bill was read a first time, and the second reading was fixed for Tuesday next. The Hon. J. A. Bonar has taken "of it. The general impression^ that the Government will try to get the Council to slaughter the Gold Duty Abolition Bill. We know Hop Bitters are above and beyond all as a nutritious tonic and curative. Read thoroughly the